Vaskakas Brings THE SHOEMAKER'S DREAM and METAMORPHOSIS to Abrons Arts Center thru 10/10

Winner of the Best Scenography Award at the 2012 Unima World Puppetry Festival in China, the Hungarian puppetry ensemble Vaskakas makes its American debut with two magical productions: The Shoemaker's Dream and Metamorphosis, now through October 10, 2012 at The Experimental Theater at Abrons Arts Center in New York. Tickets are $15; Students & Seniors $10.

The Shoemaker's Dream
October 3-6 | 7:30 pm
October 6 | 3 pm
October 7 | 11 am

The Shoemaker's Dream is a genre-blending dance theatre performance that skillfully melds genres while transporting audiences to the dreamworld of a mischievous, old, whistling shoemaker and his exhausted and grumpy wife, whose miraculous journey begins when a dream-girl, the kind, youthful and charming alter-ego of the wife, steps down from a poster. Shoes come to life, tapping, knocking, dancing and misbehaving - and soon the craftsman's tools begin to move as well. Winding their way through the various emotional dynamics of their relationship, the dancing couple samples a wide range of genres, from tango to step and acrobatic moves on to Hungarian folk dance in a seamless choreography that naturally melds folk dance with puppet theatre. Featuring dancers from the Dezs? Fitos Dance Company.

Metamorphosis
October 7 | 3 pm
October 8-10 | 7:30 pm

Metamorphosis is the result of close cooperation between Vaskaka and one of the great minds of puppetry, Krzysztof Rau of Poland, who brought in his artistic team to create this unique and transcendent piece Metamorphosis highlights manual dexterity and the skill of the puppeteer (present on the stage), but more importantly it uses the medium of pliable fabric, folded, tied and suspended only by the animators' hands, to offer musings on the nature of play itself. The puppeteers are playing on stage, with the audience observing their games, as do their figures which keep transforming into yet other animal shapes while experiencing conflict and cooperation, exclusion and inclusion in the unstable universe created out of white linen. While incessantly playful and suitable for all ages, the piece is unmistakably a series of perceptive musings about ourselves as social beings, the creative and competitive pulsations palpable in our interactions and even in our innate playfulness and imagination.

Presented with the Hungarian Cultural Institute.

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